usually for pcbs you will have to provide them with a gerber file. there are a lot of different layers and data needed for pcbs and im not sure a pdf would cut it... it certainly isn't standard and im not aware of any that can do it._________________http://www.ruinelectronics.comhttp://www.ruinwesen.com

A reasonably good PCB layout program that outputs files in a gerber format is your best bet.
I recommend FreePCB as it is fairly easy to learn and has very few limitations.
once you have your gerber files , PCB manufacture cost can be very cheap
Itead studio for example will do 10 off 100 x 50 mm boards for under $30 plus shipping._________________In an infinite universe one might very well
ask where the hell am I
oh yeah thats right the land of OZ
as good an answer as any

A reasonably good PCB layout program that outputs files in a gerber format is your best bet.
I recommend FreePCB as it is fairly easy to learn and has very few limitations.
once you have your gerber files , PCB manufacture cost can be very cheap
Itead studio for example will do 10 off 100 x 50 mm boards for under $30 plus shipping.

I just did my first order from iTead for 10x Turing Machine PCBs a couple weeks ago and it was $27 WITH shipping. Anxiously awaiting the results....

Another cool source for prototypes is oshpark. They do 3 copies of prototype boards amazingly cheaply. I just had two different batches done, the boards were around 2" square, the smaller ones came to $8.90, the larger ones $11.25. Takes awhile because they panelize your design with other customers submissions before sending out for fab, but generally the delay isn't much more than a week or 10 days. The results are very nice, with silkscreens, plated through holes, double sided with solder mask. Highly recommended. As for the OP's original question, no, they don't work from PDFs, only gerbers.

Eagle is popular if you can work with the limitations (1 schematic sheet, about 4x3" 2 layer board max).

Kicad is pretty nice also. Not the same standard as Eagle but isn't as limited, you can have multiple sheets, hierarchy and large multi-layered boards._________________My synth build blog: http://gndsynth.blogspot.com/

Kicad is good
for MAC there is also OSMOND and gEDA but i have no experiance with either of those.
I cant recommend Eagle at all though many swear by it , far too many limitations in the free version for my use and its not intuitive at all. feels like it was written by a commitee and i do mean that in a bad way.
if you do go with Eagle do not trust any of the libraries - make your own
also autoroute is evil never use it._________________In an infinite universe one might very well
ask where the hell am I
oh yeah thats right the land of OZ
as good an answer as any

yes I only just found out about this one at the start of the week
just a pity it wont run under windows , looks good for getting gerbers from DXF files as well as PDF which means you could get around expresspcb's major downfall.
good deal for mac user's though._________________In an infinite universe one might very well
ask where the hell am I
oh yeah thats right the land of OZ
as good an answer as any

http://platinenbelichter.de/
It says that they accept PDF's.
First time I've ever seen a PCB fabber say this on their site.
Haven't used them myself - may be worth asking in the other thread re. experiences specifically with PDF source files?

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot attach files in this forumYou can download files in this forum

Please support our site. If you click through and buy from our affiliate partners, we earn a small commission.